Labour-Management Relations: Year In Review 1994

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For most of the industrialized market economies, the outlook brightened as 1994 progressed, and inflationary pressures proved manageable. Unemployment, however, was forecast to rise to 8.5% in the countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) by the end of the year. In June the OECD published the results of a two-year study of jobs, putting forward a number of recommendations that stressed the importance of technological know-how and of increasing the flexibility of working time, encouraging an entrepreneurial climate, making wages and labour costs more flexible, reforming restrictions on employment security, improving labour market policies and skills, and reforming unemployment benefit systems.

In the closing stages of the Uruguay round of international trade negotiations, the U.S., with support from others, proposed confining the advantages of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) to countries observing fair labour standards. The proposal was strongly opposed by less developed countries, which saw it as protectionism on the part of rich countries and as likely to hurt their trade and their efforts to build an industrial base. The proposal was not accepted for inclusion in GATT, but it was agreed that it could be discussed in the committee charged with setting up the World Trade Organization.

Europe

In the European Union, action on labour matters was relatively low-key in 1994. The most notable event was the finalization of the long-discussed directive concerning establishment of European-level works councils, procedures under which management would discuss the progress and prospects of the company with workers’ representatives at least once a year. The directive was approved by 11 of the 12 member states, the U.K. exercising its right to opt out. The European Commission issued a white paper on labour in July. It argued that Europe needed a broadly based, innovative, and forward-looking social policy to meet the challenges ahead. Defeating unemployment was given pride of place, but the Commission also stressed the importance of improving productivity, a high rate of investment in new technology, and promoting a well-educated, highly motivated, and adaptable working population.

In June the European Court of Justice issued two significant judgments against the U.K., one concerning a 1977 directive on the safeguarding of workers’ rights in the transfer of a company and the other a 1975 directive on collective dismissals. In both cases the court found that U.K. law did not make adequate provision for workers’ representatives to be consulted in reaching an agreement. Further, effective sanctions had not been provided against employers failing to inform and consult. In the 1977 case the U.K. had also wrongly excluded non-profit-making firms. In fact, the U.K. had anticipated nearly all the points covered by the rulings by amending its legislation. In September the court ruled on six British and Dutch cases concerning occupational pension plans. Notable aspects of the rulings dealt with the calculation of women’s pensions, considering their longer life expectancy, and the right of part-time workers to be covered by an employer’s plan.

The most prominent event in British labour-management relations during the year concerned railway signal personnel. Under the changes in the structure of railway operation, rail tracks, railway stations, and signaling became the responsibility of Railtrack, a state-owned company, while other enterprises were designated to run the trains. The Rail, Maritime and Transport Union lodged a claim, largely based on productivity improvements in recent years, for an 11% pay increase. In negotiations in early June the union understood the company to have proposed a 5.7% increase, but when the formal offer was made, it was for 2.5%. The government allegedly had intervened to stop the 5.7% offer. A strike ballot showed strong support for action, and a series of one- and two-day strikes were called, continuing into September. The strikes caused considerable disruption, though as time went by, the company made it possible for an appreciable proportion of normal services to operate on strike days. Agreement was reached at the end of September on a deal estimated to cost 3.7%, with a basic pay increase of 2.5%.

British union membership continued its 15-year decline, though polls suggested that unions were gaining favour in public opinion. The Trades Union Congress, under the leadership of John Monks, its new general secretary, embarked on its most radical internal reorganization in more than 70 years, replacing its network of committees with a tighter structure, reducing the frequency of its general meetings, and stepping up its campaigning and service activities.

In February a new, three-year central agreement was arrived at in Ireland, covering pay and social and economic issues for both the public and the private sector. The comprehensive agreement provided staged wage increases, over the three years, of 8% in the private and parallel increases in the public sector.

When the year started, German economic prospects appeared gloomy as the country coped not only with recession but also with the continuing high cost of helping the former communist sector. Unemployment, at around four million, was at a long-term high. Under these circumstances collective bargaining produced only moderate settlements, with wage increases that resulted in small reductions in real earnings and with provisions for increasing flexibility in working time. Thus, in the chemical industry an agreement reached in January provided a 2% pay rise, with newly hired workers being paid lower rates than those for existing workers. There could, by agreement between the employer and the works council, be a variation in working time, with a minimum of 35 hours a week and a maximum of 40 hours without payment of overtime, though the average of 37.5 hours had to apply over the course of a year. In the engineering industry an agreement gave a pay rise of 2% and restricted holiday pay and Christmas bonuses and also allowed shorter and more flexible working hours. A comprehensive law on working time came into force on July 1. While it retained restrictions on work on Sundays and public holidays for most employees, it also contained a number of provisions to increase flexibility. Legal vacation time was increased to 24 days a year (though in practice a majority of employees already enjoyed six weeks of vacation).

The French government launched a substantial and wide-ranging program aimed at encouraging employment. One of its provisions, allowing companies to take on certain workers under the age of 26 at 80% of the national minimum wage for a limited period, produced not only strong opposition from trade unions but also massive street demonstrations. In the end Prime Minister Édouard Balladur agreed to suspend the proposal (it was later withdrawn). In a postscript to the Air France strike of 1993, the new chairman of the company produced a restructuring plan, including job cuts, a wage freeze, and longer working hours. The plan was rejected by a majority of the unions, but when the chairman put it directly to the 40,000 workers concerned, 81% voted to accept it.

Pensions were the big issue in Italian industrial relations in 1994. It was apparent that the costs of the extravagant and much-abused national pension system (under which, for example, women in the public sector could retire on 80% of pay after 15 years of service) could no longer be afforded. The government’s efforts to reduce the cost of pensions were strongly resisted by trade unions, and a four-hour stoppage on October 14 was supported by an estimated three million people. A general strike called for December 2 was canceled when the government made sufficient concessions to placate the unions. Among numerous disputes during the year, a proposal by Fiat, Italy’s largest private employer, to dismiss up to 12,000 workers led to a series of strikes and demonstrations until agreement was reached on a restructuring plan with financial support from the government.

The Spanish government continued its efforts to reform the labour market against stiff union opposition marked by a general strike on January 27. The government’s program included removing impediments to part-time employment, allowing unqualified people between the ages of 18 and 25 to work for a limited time at between 70% and 80% of the national minimum wage, facilitating layoffs for organizational and production or technical reasons, and replacing statutory ordinances made under the Franco dictatorship with collective agreements. In Portugal in June the prime minister mooted the idea of a social contract that would run to the end of the century, and discussions were started on the proposal.

A lengthy period of discussion between government, unions, and employers having failed to reach agreement in 1993, a Belgian royal decree authorized implementation of the government’s plan for employment, competitiveness, and social security. With a few exceptions, until Jan. 23, 1995, there would be no pay increases, individual or collective, beyond those due under a system based on a price index excluding gasoline, cigarettes, and alcohol, with increases being triggered when the index reached a threshold figure. An employer breaching the rules would be liable to substantial penalties. On November 21 employers and unions reached agreement on proposals for a central agreement for 1995-96.

The United States

The Dunlop Commission on the Future of Worker-Management Relations issued a preliminary fact-finding report in June. The report concluded that a number of aspects of U.S. labour law were inadequate for present conditions. It also laid considerable stress on the value of employee participation. A bill to outlaw the permanent replacement of strikers--strongly backed by unions--was thrown out by the U.S. Senate in July when its backers failed to muster enough support to overcome a Republican filibuster.

The strike that attracted the most attention in the U.S. during the year was in baseball’s major leagues. The players struck after the games of August 11, and the World Series was canceled. (SeeSPORTS AND GAMES: Baseball: Sidebar.)

Asia and Africa

In Japan there were signs in 1994 of recovery from the prolonged recession. Even so, unemployment was still high by Japanese standards (though it did not quite reach 3%), and many firms reduced their labour force. Japan’s economic realities were reflected in the fact that wage increases averaged little more than 3%.

Not the least of the many problems facing the new South African government was how to satisfy the expectations of black South Africans for rapid improvement in living standards while retaining, and if possible increasing, competitiveness. In addition, the government placed high importance on reassuring the business community and offering investors a stable business environment and low inflation. Although the year passed without major labour problems, strike activity was high. R.O. Clarke